Saturday Night Specials: Shén Dragons and Bore Worms

These creatures are bluish violet dragon-like lizards found in mountainous regions of worlds colonized by the Shén.

A Gacháya has wings, six legs, and grows to approximately 30 feet in length. In combat, the creature bites, claws, and strikes with its long, muscular tail. Although humans find the flesh of these monsters inedible; Gacháya meat is considered a delicacy by the Shén who have introduced this dangerous alien species to countless worlds throughout their vast star empire.

Regulan Bore Worm

No. Enc: 3d4

Alignment: Neutral

Movement: 10’ (2’)

Armor Class: 9

Hit Dice: 1 hit point

Attacks: See below

Damage: See below

Save: None

Morale:N/A

Regulan bore worms, the larval form of the Regulan mind worm, are large (approximately one inch long) maggot-like creatures that hunger for living flesh. Upon contact with a living being, bore worms will begin to burrow into the body resulting in intense pain and 1d4 hit points of damage per worn each round. The application of heat or flame to the site of entry will kill the worms; however it will also inflict 1d6 hit points of damage on the victim.

The introduction of bore worms into the ear of a subject is a dreaded and horrible torture method employed by the Vléshga. The worms will eat slowly through the victim’s skull and brain causing excruciating pain.

4 comments:

Ceti Alpha V? That's the laevae of the Ceti eel. They don't actually bore or eat flesh but enter one's ear and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. These are probably just about as painful as the bore worm but also produce some unpleasant side effects like making the host susceptible to suggestion. Eventually the host goes mad with nothing to look forward to but a slow terrible death.

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"Humanspace Empires is a pulp science fiction game set in the space opera "pre-history" of Prof. M.A.R. Barker's classic fantasy world of Tekumel...[with] a rules engine that implements the best aspects of the original fantasy role playing system and Empire of the Petal Throne..."

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"If you have run—and loved—an older edition of D&D than you will be completely comfortable running this system ... closer in spirit to the simple, pre-TSR OD&D variant Empire of the Petal Throne than the published one."

"A better one for the OSR: playing What If… with the original games. Humanspace Empires is what if with MAR Barker’s Empire of the Petal Throne, earlier in the timeline of that game and focused on the space opera aspects of the setting."

"This setting is like a combo of star wars, star trek, & dune on acid mixed with influences of old fashioned pulp in a blender with the setting on high mix! Got that! Its that good & this is only the playtest version!"